KR101547412B1 - Battery power monitoring and audio signal attenuation - Google Patents

Abstract

To reduce the risk of brown outs and resets in mobile stations using far-field loudspeakers, the voltage level of the battery and the level of the input audio signal are monitored. If the level of the audio signal increases beyond the threshold level and the voltage level of the battery falls below the threshold voltage, the attenuation is determined and applied to the audio signal. The applied attenuation reduces the volume of the audio signal, reducing the risk of brownout or reset due to insufficient voltage at the mobile station.

Description

Battery power monitoring and audio signal attenuation {BATTERY POWER MONITORING AND AUDIO SIGNAL ATTENUATION}

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61 / 431,409, filed January 10, This U.S. Provisional Application is hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Many mobile stations, such as mobile telephones, support far-field loudspeakers. These far-field speakers may be used for a variety of applications such as speaker phones and music applications. Typically, the far-field speaker outputs an audio signal from the mobile station at a volume higher than the normal volume so that the mobile station may be placed away from the user's ear. For example, a mobile station may be placed on a table and used as a speaker phone for a group of users sitting at a table.

Mobile stations typically include a power source in the form of a rechargeable battery. One problem associated with far-field speakers may arise if the voltage from the battery is not sufficient to support the increased voltage requirements of the far-field speaker. Current requirements for the battery at high audio output power, whether the far-field speaker driver is powered directly from the battery or from a voltage booster (e.g., 5V boost), cause brownout of the battery voltage You may. This brown-out can cause the mobile station to shut down or reset.

To reduce the risk of brownouts and resets at mobile stations using far-field speakers, the voltage level of the battery and the level of the digital audio signal are monitored. If the level of the audio signal increases beyond the threshold level and the voltage level of the battery falls below the threshold voltage, the attenuation is determined and applied to the digital audio signal. The applied attenuation reduces the volume of the digital audio signal, reducing the risk of brownout or reset due to insufficient voltage at the mobile station.

In one implementation, a method of attenuating input audio signals at a mobile device is provided. The battery voltage level of the battery of the mobile device is determined. The audio signal level of the audio signal is determined, and the audio signal is attenuated based on the battery voltage level and the audio signal level.

In one implementation, an apparatus is provided for attenuating input audio signals at a mobile device. The apparatus includes means for determining a battery voltage level of the battery of the mobile device, means for determining an audio signal level of the input audio signal, and means for attenuating the audio signal based on the battery voltage level and the audio signal level.

In one implementation, a computer readable medium is provided that includes instructions. These instructions cause the computer to determine the battery voltage level of the battery, determine the audio signal level of the input audio signal, and attenuate the audio signal based on the battery voltage level and the audio signal level.

In one implementation, an apparatus is provided for attenuating input audio signals. The apparatus comprises: a voltage level determiner for determining a battery voltage level of the battery of the apparatus; And an attenuation determiner for determining the audio signal level of the input audio signal and for attenuating the audio signal based on the battery voltage level and the audio signal level.

This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in the simplified forms that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter and is not intended to be used to limit the scope of the subject matter claimed.

The foregoing summary and the following detailed description of the exemplary embodiments are better understood when read in conjunction with the appended drawings. For the purpose of illustrating embodiments, although the illustrative arrangements of embodiments are shown in the drawings, the embodiments are not limited to the specific methods and means disclosed.
Figure 1 is an example of an environment for determining the amount of attenuation to apply to an input audio signal.
Figure 2 is a graph showing exemplary target attenuation and battery voltage levels.
3 is an operational flow diagram of one implementation of a method for determining whether to dither an input audio signal.
4 is an operational flow diagram of another implementation of a method for determining whether to decimate an input audio signal.
5 is an operational flow diagram of one implementation of a method for determining a target attenuation for an input audio signal.
6 is an operational flow diagram of one implementation of a method for adjusting attenuation applied to an input audio signal.
7 is an operational flow of an implementation of another method of adjusting attenuation applied to an input audio signal.
8 is a diagram of an exemplary mobile station.
Figure 9 illustrates an exemplary computing environment.

1 is an illustration of an environment 100 for determining the amount of attenuation to apply to an input audio signal. The environment 100 may be implemented using the mobile station 800 and / or the computing device 900 described with respect to Figures 8 and 9, respectively. The environment 100 includes a control path that includes a delay generator 105, an attenuation determiner 110, and a gain engine 115. The environment 100 includes a signal path 140, a battery 130, a voltage level determiner 107, an amplifier 170, a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) 147, a digital gain controller 145, a booster 116, a speaker driver 180, and a far-field speaker 190. More or fewer components may be supported.

The input audio signal 120 may be received by the environment 100. The input audio signal 120 may be generated by a processor or other component of the mobile station associated with the environment 100. For example, the input audio signal 120 may be a digital audio signal generated by the mobile station as part of a telephone call or during audio or video playback.

The input audio signal 120 may pass through what is referred to herein as the signal path 140. The signal path 140 may represent various functional and / or processing components that may act on the input audio signal 120 as part of one or more supported codecs. For example, in some implementations, components of signal path 140 may include an upsampler and a zero order hold. Also, although shown separately, the signal path 140 may further include a DAC 147 and a digital gain controller 145. More or fewer components may also be included in signal path 140.

The input audio signal 120 may go through the amplifier 170 (or alternatively, the digital gain controller 145 and / or the DAC 147) to the speaker driver 180 . The speaker driver 180 may provide the processed audio signal to the far-field speaker 190 as an output. In addition, the amplifier 170 may utilize a voltage boost by the booster 116 to provide additional volume and / or amplify the less distorted signal. For example, the speaker driver 180 may receive power from an additional 5 V boost, rather than directly from the battery.

Whether a voltage boost is used or not, the current drawn by the speaker driver 180 may adversely affect the mobile station. For example, when the voltage of the battery 130 is low, the mobile station may not have sufficient voltage to power other components of the mobile station, while the far-field speaker is being used and outputting large signals (I. E., May be browned out) or reset in some cases.

Thus, the environment 100 may include a control path 150 to prevent one or more of the adverse effects associated with the use of the far-field speaker 190. In particular, the control path 150 may determine whether to apply an attenuation (i.e., attenuate the input audio signal 120) to the input audio signal 120, and if the attenuation is applied, May determine how much attenuation to apply before being provided to the far-field speaker 190. The attenuation may cause a temporary reduction in the volume of the input audio signal 120, thereby reducing the current drawn by the speaker driver 180. The reduced current may prevent the reset and / or brownout conditions described above.

The control path 150 may include a delay generator 105. The delay generator 105 may add to the control path 150 a delay amount equal to the total delay of the signal path 140. As can be appreciated, a delay may be added to the control path 150 such that a determination as to whether to damp the input audio signal 120 may be made proximate to the input audio signal 120 exiting the signal path 140 . The delay generator 105 may thus synchronize the input audio signal 120 in the control path 150 with the input audio signal 120 in the signal path 140.

The amount of delay added to the input audio signal 120 by the delay generator 105 may depend on various implementation details such as the type of codec and the interpolation filters used by the signal path 140. In addition, the amount of delay added by delay generator 105 is also reduced in view of the delay introduced by other components of control path 150, such as by attenuation determiner 110 and gain engine 115 It is possible. In some implementations, the total delay may be calculated using equation (1): < EMI ID =

Total delay = delay from signal path 140- (delay from attenuator 110 + delay from gain engine 115) (1)

In equation (1), the delay from signal path 140 is such that the input audio signal 120 from the time when input audio signal 120 enters signal path 140 to signal path 140 (DAC 147) and / or digital gain controller 145). The delay from the attenuation determiner 110 may be a delay associated with determining whether to apply an attenuation to the input audio signal 120. [ The delay from the gain engine 115 may be a delay associated with applying an attenuation to the input audio signal 120 and may include any delay associated with configuring the amplifier 170. [

The attenuation determiner 110 may receive the input audio signal 120 after applying the delay from the delay generator 105 and may determine how much attenuation to apply to the input audio signal 120, have. In addition, if the attenuation is already applied to the input audio signal 120, the attenuation determiner 110 may determine whether to adjust or remove the applied attenuation.

The attenuation determiner 110 may receive the battery voltage level from the voltage level determiner 107 and may determine whether to damp the input audio signal 120 based on the received battery voltage level. In some implementations, the attenuation determiner 110 may determine to attenuate the input audio signal 120 when the battery voltage level is less than the voltage threshold 113. [ In some implementations, the voltage threshold 113 may be 3.6 volts. However, other voltage thresholds 113 may be selected and / or supported by, for example, a user or an administrator.

The attenuation determiner 110 may also determine the level of the input audio signal 120. In some implementations, the attenuation determiner 110 may determine the level of the input audio signal 120 based on one or more of the peak input audio signal 120 levels. The attenuation determiner 110 may determine the levels of the peak input audio signal 120 for each block of the input audio signal 120. For example, 10 ms blocks may be used. The attenuation determiner 110 may forget the previously determined peak levels from the blocks every 20 ms. The attenuation determiner 110 may then use the current maximum peak input audio signal 120 level from one of the blocks as the input audio signal 120 level.

In other implementations, the attenuation determiner 110 may determine the level of the input audio signal 120 based on the average level of the input audio signal 120. The attenuation determiner 110 may determine the average level for each block of the input audio signal level 120. [ For example, the average may be computed by averaging the absolute levels within the block, or the average may be computed as the root mean squared (RMS) value of the levels within the block. The attenuation determiner 110 may then average the determined levels for one or more of the blocks to smooth out the determined levels. The attenuation determiner 110 may then use the current average level as the input audio signal 120 level.

Voltage level determiner 107 may include one or more of a variety of known analog-to-digital voltage converters. The voltage level determiner 107 may quickly determine the battery voltage level so that the attenuation determiner 110 may use the current conditions of the battery 130 to make an attenuation decision. In some implementations, the voltage level determiner 107 may determine the battery voltage level with an accuracy of 8 bits, but other accuracy levels may also be supported.

In some implementations, the voltage level determiner 107 may employ filtering techniques to smooth the determined battery voltage levels. For example, a first infinite impulse response (IIR) filter with a smoothing constant 'a' having a value of approximately 0.5 may be used. Other types of filters and smoothing constant values may also be used. As another example, a finite impulse response (FIR) filter, such as a 10 tap moving average filter, may also be used.

The attenuation determiner 110 may also determine whether to damp the input audio signal 120 based on the level of the input audio signal 120 as well as the voltage level of the battery 130. [ The attenuation determiner 110 may determine the level of the input audio signal 120 as described above and may compare the level of the input audio signal 120 to the audio signal level threshold 114. [ The attenuation determiner 110 may then decide to attenuate the input audio signal 120 if the level of the input audio signal 120 is above the audio signal level threshold 114. [ The threshold 114 may be set by, for example, a user or an administrator.

In some implementations, the attenuation determiner 110 may determine whether to damp the input audio signal 120 only if the battery voltage level is below the voltage threshold 113, regardless of the level of the input audio signal 120 have. In these implementations, the attenuation determiner 110 may determine the level of the input audio signal 120 only if the battery voltage level is less than the voltage threshold 113. [ In other implementations, the attenuation determiner 110 may determine whether to damp the input audio signal 120 only if the input audio signal level is above the audio signal level threshold 114, regardless of the battery voltage level . In these implementations, the attenuation determiner 110 may determine the battery voltage level only if the level of the input audio signal 120 is above the audio signal level threshold 114. [

In some implementations, the attenuation determiner 110 may receive the far-field loudspeaker enable signal 101 and may determine whether to damp the input audio signal 120 based on the signal 101 have. The far field speaker enable signal 101 may be received from a processor or component associated with the mobile station and may indicate whether the far field speaker 190 is enabled or not. Thus, if the far-field speaker 190 is not enabled, the attenuation determiner 110 may not decide to attenuate the input audio signal 120. In such implementations, if the far-field speaker 190 is not enabled, the attenuation determiner 110 may not determine either the battery voltage level or the input audio signal level.

After deciding to attenuate the input audio signal 120, the attenuation determiner 110 may determine a target attenuation amount to apply to the input audio signal 120. The attenuation determiner 110 may determine a target attenuation to apply based on the battery voltage level of the battery 130 and the target attenuation mapping 111. [ In some implementations, the mapping 111 may include a table or other data structure that represents the target attenuation to apply for a given battery voltage level. In other implementations, the target attenuation mapping 111 may include factors or other values that may be multiplied by (or otherwise applied to) the battery voltage level to determine the target attenuation. If there are multiple target attenuation mappings, the input audio level 120 may be used to select the target attenuation mappings to use.

The attenuation determiner 110 may also determine the target attenuation in accordance with the maximum attenuation 112. The maximum attenuation 112 may be set by, for example, a user or an administrator and may be the maximum amount of attenuation that may be applied to the input audio signal 120. [ The attenuation determiner 110 may set the target attenuation to the maximum attenuation 112 if the target attenuation determined by the attenuation determiner 110 using the target attenuation mapping is greater than the maximum attenuation 112. [

For example, FIG. 2 is a graph 200 illustrating exemplary target attenuations determined by the attenuation determiner 110. The y-axis of graph 200 represents the target attenuation and the x-axis of graph 200 represents the battery voltage level. The graph 200 represents three different target attenuation mappings 111a, 111b and 111c. Each target attenuation mapping 111a through 111c is associated with a different attenuation rate, which is reflected by the slopes of the lines of mappings 111a through 111c, respectively. For the target attenuation mapping 111a, the input audio signal 120 is attenuated by 1 dB per 0.1 V reduction of the battery voltage level. For the target attenuation mapping 111b, the input audio signal 120 is attenuated by 2 dB per 0.1 V reduction of the battery voltage level. For the target attenuation mapping 111c, the input audio signal 120 is attenuated by 6 dB per 0.1 V reduction of the battery voltage level.

As shown, the input audio signal 120 is attenuated only when the voltage falls below a voltage threshold 113 of 3.6 volts. This voltage threshold 113 acts as a trip point. In addition, in this example, the target attenuation is never greater than the maximum attenuation 112 of -6 dB. Note that since the input audio signal 120 is attenuated to reduce the volume of the input audio signal 120, for example, an attenuation of -12 dB represents an attenuation greater than -1 dB.

In one implementation, taking into account the slope and trip point values, the amount of attenuation to be applied can be determined as: (trip point-battery voltage level) x slope (should not exceed maximum attenuation). The maximum attenuation (112) provides the attenuation determiner (110) the upper limit of the attenuation to apply. For example, if the trip point is 3.6 V and the slope is 2 dB / 0.1 V, then the attenuation applied to the signal (assuming the signal level threshold is exceeded) if the battery voltage level is 3.4 V is: 3.6 - 3.4 = 0.2 V; 0.2 V × 2 dB / 0.1 V = 4 dB.

The maximum attenuation (112) provides the attenuation determiner (110) the upper limit of the attenuation to apply. In one implementation, the value of the maximum attenuation 112 is programmable.

The gain engine 115 receives the target attenuation from the attenuation determiner 110 and applies a target attenuation to the input audio signal 120. In some implementations, the gain engine 115 may apply the target attenuation by configuring the amplifier 170. Alternatively or additionally, the gain engine 115 may apply the target attenuation by recording new gain values in the audio power amplifier associated with the codec implemented by the environment 100.

In some implementations, the gain engine 115 may apply a target attenuation in the digital domain prior to the amplifier 170 or the speaker driver 180. For example, the gain engine 115 may configure the digital gain controller 145 to apply a digital gain to the input audio signal 120, instead of the amplifier 170. [ The digital gain controller 145 may be implemented using a variety of well known techniques.

In some implementations, rather than applying the target attenuation immediately to the input audio signal 120, the gain engine 115 may slowly apply the target attenuation to the input audio signal 120 over time. The rate at which the gain engine 115 may apply a target attenuation is known as a step rate 118, and may be set by, for example, a user or an administrator. The example step rate 118 may be 10 ㎲ / 0.5 dB, which means that attenuation may be applied to the input audio signal 120 at a rate of 0.5 dB every 10 ㎲ until the target attenuation is reached.

In some implementations, the step rate 118 used by the gain engine 115 may be the same whether the current attenuation is raised or lowered to reach the target attenuation. In other implementations, a different step rate 118 may be used depending on whether the attenuation is raised or lowered by the gain engine 115.

More specifically, in one implementation, the gain engine 115 takes information from the attenuation determinator 110 and writes the new gain values to a digital gain controller 145 for digital-to-analog conversion or to an audio power amplifier of the codec do. The gain is not updated momentarily, but is updated by specific attack and release times. Both attack and release times may be programmable values. Attack time refers to how quickly the gain should be stepped down from one target value to the next target value. For example, a typical value may be 10 μs / 0.5 dB. This means that the gain should be reduced by 0.5 dB every 10 ㎲ until a new target attenuation is reached. The release time refers to how quickly the gain should be stepped up from one target value to the next target value. For example, a typical value may be 800 ms / 0.5 dB. This means that the gain should be increased by 0.5 dB every 800 ms until a new target attenuation is reached. The attack time is applied when lowering the gain, and the release time is applied when the gain is increased. Note that a new target attenuation may be introduced before reaching the preceding target attenuation. In this case, the gain engine 115 may remember its current gain setting and its target.

In some implementations, rather than deciding whether to damp the input audio signal 120 as described above, the attenuation determiner 110 may use the reference herein to limit the input audio signal 120 May be determined to be attenuated. In the limiter based approach, the attenuation determiner 110 may determine if the level of the input audio signal 120 is greater than the audio signal level threshold 114 and if the level of the input audio signal 120 exceeds the audio signal level threshold 114), and may also decide to instruct the gain engine 115 to reduce the amount of attenuation currently applied to the input audio signal 120 (if any) It is possible.

If the level of the input audio signal 120 is greater than the audio signal level threshold 114 then the attenuation determiner 110 may determine the level of the audio signal 120 based on the voltage level of the battery 130 as determined by the voltage level determiner 107 A limiting threshold for the input audio signal 120 may be calculated. In addition, the limiting threshold may also be calculated based on the voltage threshold 113 (i.e., the trip point) and the target attenuation mapping 111 (i.e., the slope). In some implementations, the limiting threshold may be determined by multiplying the difference between the battery voltage level and the trip point by the slope.

The attenuation determiner 110 may then determine whether the level of the input audio signal 120 (including any attenuation or gain currently applied) is greater than the calculated limiting threshold. If the level is greater than the limiting threshold, the attenuation determiner 110 may instruct the gain engine 115 to increase the amount of attenuation applied to the input audio signal 120. If not, the attenuation determiner 110 may instruct the gain engine 115 to reduce the amount of attenuation applied to the input audio signal 120.

3 is an operational flow diagram of one implementation of a method 300 for determining whether to dither an input audio signal. This method may be implemented by the attenuation determiner 110 of the control path 150. At 301, an input audio signal is received. The input audio signal 120 may be received by the attenuation determiner 110 of the control path 150. The input audio signal 120 may be a digital audio signal and may be received from a processor or other component of the mobile station.

At 303, a determination is made whether the far-field speaker is enabled. This determination may be made by the attenuation determiner 110 of the control path 150 based on the far-field loudspeaker enable signal 101. If the far-field speaker 190 is not enabled, the method 300 may end at 305. If not, the method 300 continues at 307, so that the amount of attenuation for the input audio signal 120 may be determined by the attenuation determiner 110.

4 is an operational flow diagram of another implementation of a method 400 for determining whether to dither an input audio signal. The method 400 may be implemented by the attenuation determiner 110 of the control path 150. At 401, an input audio signal is received. The input audio signal 120 may be received by the attenuation determiner 110 from the delay generator 105.

At 403, a battery voltage level may be received. The battery voltage level may be received by the attenuation determiner 110 from the voltage level determiner 107. The battery voltage level may be a measure of the available voltage of the battery 130 of the mobile station.

At 405, a determination is made whether the battery voltage level is below a first threshold. This determination may be made by the attenuation determiner 110. The first threshold may be the voltage threshold 113 and may be set, for example, by a user or an administrator. If the battery voltage level is above the first threshold, there is no risk of brownout or reset due to the audio signal, and the method 400 may determine at 407 that attenuation is not necessary. If not, and the battery voltage is below the first threshold, the method 400 may continue at 409.

At 409, a determination is made whether the input audio signal is below a second threshold. This determination may be made by the attenuation determiner 110. The second threshold may be an audio signal level threshold 114, or may be set by a user or an administrator. Similarly, if the input audio signal is below a second threshold, there is no risk of system reset or brown-out, and the method 400 may determine at 407 that attenuation is not necessary. If not, processing continues at 411 to determine the target attenuation.

At 411, the target attenuation is determined. The target attenuation may be determined by the attenuation determiner 110 using, for example, the battery voltage level, the target attenuation mapping 111 and the maximum attenuation 112. The target attenuation may then be provided to the gain engine 115, where the target attenuation may be applied to the input audio signal 120.

5 is an operational flow diagram of one implementation of a method 500 for determining a target attenuation for an input audio signal. The method 500 may be implemented by an attenuation determiner 110. At 501, a mapping is received. The mapping may be received by the attenuation determiner 110. The mapping may be a target attenuation mapping 111 or may include mapping from battery voltage levels to target attenuations. In some implementations, the mapping may be an argument or other value that may be multiplied (or otherwise applied to the voltage level) by the battery voltage level to determine the target attenuation.

At 503, the target attenuation is determined using the mapping and battery voltage levels. The target attenuation may be determined by the attenuation determiner 110. For implementations in which the target attenuation mapping is a predetermined value, the value may be multiplied by the battery voltage level to determine the target attenuation.

At 505, a determination is made whether the target attenuation is greater than the maximum attenuation. This determination may be made by the attenuation determiner 110 using the maximum attenuation (112). The maximum attenuation 112 may be set by a user or an administrator and may represent the maximum attenuation that may be applied to the input audio signal 120. [ If the target attenuation is less than the maximum attenuation 112, a target attenuation may be returned at 507 to be applied to attenuate the signal. If not, the processing may continue at 509.

At 509, the target attenuation may be set to maximum attenuation. Because the determined target attenuation is greater than the maximum attenuation 112, the attenuation determiner 110 may set the target attenuation to the maximum attenuation 112. After setting the target attenuation to the maximum attenuation 112, the method 500 may be applied to attenuate the signal by returning the target attenuation at 507.

6 is an operational flow of an implementation of a method 600 of adjusting attenuation applied to an input audio signal. The method 600 may be implemented by the gain engine 115 of the control path 150. At 601, a target attenuation is received. The target attenuation may have been determined by the attenuation determiner 110 and received by the gain engine 115.

At 603, the current attenuation is determined. The current attenuation may be determined by the gain engine 115 and may be attenuation being applied to the input audio signal 120 somewhere in the digital signal path or by the amplifier 170.

At 605, a determination is made whether the current attenuation is equal to the target attenuation. This determination may be made by the gain engine 115. If the current attenuation is equal to the target attenuation, the method 600 continues at 601 to receive a new target attenuation amount. If not, the processing may continue at 607.

At 607, the current attenuation decreases or increases with the step rate. The current attenuation may be increased or decreased by gain engine 115 via amplifier 170 or digital gain controller 145. The increase or decrease may be made according to the step rate 118 and may be set, for example, by a user or an administrator. In some implementations, a separate step rate 118 may be used depending on whether the current attenuation is increased or decreased. After changing the current attenuation, the method 600 may return to 605 to determine if the current attenuation is equal to the target attenuation.

7 is an operational flow of an implementation of a method 700 for determining whether to increase or decrease attenuation applied to an input audio signal. Method 700 is an example of a limiter based approach for adjusting attenuation. The method 700 may be implemented by the attenuation determiner 110 of the control path 150. An input audio signal is received at 701. The input audio signal 120 may be received by the attenuation determiner 110 from the delay generator 105.

At 703, a determination is made as to whether the level of the input audio signal is greater than the threshold audio level. This determination may be made by the attenuation determiner 110 using the audio signal level threshold 114. If the level of the input audio signal is greater than the threshold audio level, the method 700 may continue at 707. If not, the method 700 may determine at 705 that attenuation is not necessary.

At 707, a battery voltage level is received. The battery voltage level may be received by the attenuation determiner 110 from the voltage level determiner 107. The battery voltage level may be a measure of the available voltage of the battery 130 of the mobile station.

At 709, a limiting threshold is calculated. The limiting threshold may be calculated by the attenuation determiner 110 using the battery voltage level. In some implementations, the limiting threshold may be calculated by the attenuation determiner 110 using the received battery voltage level, the target attenuation mapping 111, and the voltage threshold 113.

At 711, a determination is made as to whether the level of the input audio signal is above a limiting threshold. This determination may be made by the attenuation determiner 110 using the calculated limiting threshold. If the level of the input audio signal is above the limiting threshold, the method 700 may increase the attenuation applied at 715. [ If not, the method 700 may reduce the attenuation applied at 713.

As used herein, the term " determining "(and its grammatical variants) is used in a broad sense. The term "determining" encompasses a wide variety of operations, and thus, "determining" includes computing, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, Looking up in a database or other data structure), checking, and so on. In addition, "determining" may include receiving (e.g., receiving information), accessing (e.g., accessing data in memory), and the like. In addition, "determining" may include resolving, selecting, selecting, establishing, and the like.

Unless otherwise indicated, any disclosure of the operation of a device having a particular feature is also expressly intended to disclose a method having similar features (and vice versa), and any arbitrary Is also intended to clearly illustrate (and vice versa) a method according to a similar configuration.

8 shows a block diagram of a design of an exemplary mobile station 800 in a wireless communication system. The mobile station 800 may be a cellular telephone, a terminal, a handset, a PDA, a wireless modem, a cordless telephone, or the like. The wireless communication system may be a CDMA system, a GSM system, or the like.

The mobile station 800 may provide bi-directional communication via a receive path and a transmit path. On the receive path, the signals transmitted by the base stations are received by an antenna 812 and provided to a receiver (RCVR) 814. Receiver 814 conditions and digitizes the received signal and provides samples to digital section 820 for further processing. On the transmit path, a transmitter (TMTR) 816 receives data to be transmitted from the digital section 820, processes and conditions the data, generates a modulated signal, Lt; / RTI > Receiver 814 and transmitter 816 may be part of a transceiver that may support CDMA, GSM, and the like.

The digital section 820 may include, for example, a modem processor 822, a reduced instruction set computer / digital signal processor (RISC / DSP) 824, a controller / processor 826, an internal memory 828, Interface unit, and memory unit, such as an encoder 832, a generalized audio decoder 834, a graphics / display processor 836, and an external bus interface (EBI) 838 . The modem processor 822 may perform processing, e.g., encoding, modulation, demodulation, and decoding, for data transmission and reception. The RISC / DSP 824 may perform general processing and special processing for the wireless device 800. Controller / processor 826 may oversee the operation of various processing units and interface units within digital section 820. Internal memory 828 may store data and / or instructions for various units within digital section 820. [

The generalized audio encoder 832 may perform encoding on input signals from an audio source 842, microphone 843, and the like. The generalized audio decoder 834 may perform decoding on the coded audio data and may provide output signals to the speaker / The graphics / display processor 836 may perform processing for graphics, videos, images, and text that may be presented to the display unit 846. EBI 838 may facilitate the transfer of data between digital section 820 and main memory 848. [

The digital section 820 may be implemented as one or more processors, DSPs, microprocessors, RISCs, and so on. The digital section 820 may also be fabricated on one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and / or some other types of integrated circuits (ICs).

Figure 9 illustrates an exemplary computing environment in which the exemplary implementations and aspects may be implemented. The computing system environment is only one example of a suitable computing environment and is not intended to suggest any limitation as to functionality or range of use.

Computer-executable instructions, such as program modules, being executed by a computer may also be used. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Distributed computing environments may also be used when tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network or other data transmission medium. In a distributed computing environment, program modules and other data may be located in both local and remote computer storage media including memory storage devices.

9, an exemplary system for implementing the aspects described herein includes a computing device, such as computing device 900. As shown in FIG. In its most basic configuration, computing device 900 typically includes at least one processing unit 902 and memory 904. Depending on the exact configuration and type of computing device, memory 904 may be volatile (such as random access memory (RAM)), nonvolatile (such as read only memory (ROM), flash memory, etc.) It may be some combination. This most basic configuration is shown by dashed line 906 in Fig.

The computing device 900 may have additional features and / or functionality. For example, the computing device 900 may include additional storage (removable and / or non-removable) including, but not limited to, magnetic or optical disks or tape. This additional storage is shown in Figure 9 by removable storage 908 and non-removable storage 910.

Computing device 900 typically includes a variety of computer readable media. Computer readable media can be any available media that can be accessed by the device 900, including both volatile and nonvolatile media, and removable and non-removable media. Computer storage media includes volatile and nonvolatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data . Memory 904, removable storage 908, and non-removable storage 910 are all examples of computer storage media. Computer storage media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks But are not limited to, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to store the desired information and which can be accessed by computing device 900 Do not. Any such computer storage media may be part of the computing device 900.

Computing device 900 may include communication interface (s) 912 that allow the device to communicate with other devices. Computing device 900 may also have input device (s) 914 such as a keyboard, mouse, pen, voice input device, touch input device, and the like. Output device (s) 916, such as a display, speakers, printer, etc., may also be included. All these devices are well known in the art and need not be described here in detail.

In general, any device described herein may be used in a variety of applications, such as wireless or landline telephones, cellular telephones, laptop computers, wireless multimedia devices, wireless communication PC cards, PDAs, external or internal modems, It may represent various types of devices. A device may be configured to communicate with other devices, such as an access terminal (AT), an access unit, a subscriber unit, a mobile station, a mobile device, a mobile unit, a mobile phone, a mobile, a remote station, a remote terminal, , A non-mobile station, a non-mobile device, an endpoint, and so on. Any device described herein may have hardware, software, firmware, or combinations thereof, as well as memory for storing instructions and data.

The attenuation techniques described herein may be implemented by various means. For example, these techniques may be implemented in hardware, firmware, software, or a combination thereof. Those skilled in the art will also recognize that the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the disclosure herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both. In order to clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the design constraints and specific applications that are imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.

For a hardware implementation, the processing units used to perform the techniques may be implemented within one or more ASICs, DSPs, Digital Signal Processing Devices (DSPDs), Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays ), Processors, controllers, micro-controllers, microprocessors, electronic devices, other electronic units designed to perform the functions described herein, a computer, or a combination thereof.

Thus, the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the disclosure herein may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, an FPGA or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, Or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

For firmware and / or software implementations, techniques may be implemented as instructions on a computer readable medium, such as RAM, ROM, non-volatile RAM, programmable ROM, EEPROM, flash memory, compact disc (CD) . The instructions may be executable by one or more processors and may cause the processor (s) to perform certain aspects of the functionality described herein.

If implemented in software, the functions may be stored or transmitted on one or more instructions or code as computer readable media. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. The storage media may be any available media that can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can comprise a variety of forms of instructions or data structures such as RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, And may include general purpose or special purpose computers or any other medium that can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose processor. Also, any connection is suitably referred to as a computer readable medium. For example, the software may be transmitted from a web site, a server, or other remote source to a wireless device such as a coaxial cable, a fiber optic cable, a twisted pair, a digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies (such as infrared, radio, and / Coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies (such as infrared, radio, and microwave) are included in the definition of the medium, if transmitted. Disks and discs, as used herein, include CDs, laser disks, optical disks, DVDs, floppy disks, and Blu-ray discs, which generally reproduce data magnetically, discs reproduce data optically using lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer readable media.

The software module may reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such that the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. Alternatively, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside within the user terminal. Alternatively, the processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in a user terminal.

The foregoing description of the disclosure is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the disclosure. Various modifications to the disclosure will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other modifications as long as they do not depart from the spirit or scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, the disclosure is not intended to be limited to the examples described herein, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Exemplary implementations may indicate utilizing aspects of the presently disclosed subject matter in the context of one or more stand-alone computer systems, although such subject matter is not so limited and may be implemented in connection with any computing environment, such as a network or distributed computing environment It is possible. In addition, aspects of the presently disclosed subject matter may be implemented in or across a plurality of processing chips or devices, and the repository may be similarly affected across a plurality of devices. Such devices may include, for example, PCs, network servers, and handheld devices.

While this subject matter is described in language specific to structural features and / or methodological acts, it should be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as exemplary forms of implementing the claims.

Claims (50)

A method of attenuating audio signals in a mobile device,
Determining a battery voltage level of the battery of the mobile device;
Determining an audio signal level of the audio signal;
Comparing the audio signal level with a threshold;
Determining whether to decay the audio signal based on the battery voltage level and based on the comparison; And
Selecting, from a plurality of different attenuation rates, a decay rate to apply to the audio signal based on the determined battery voltage level, wherein a change in the audio signal level is associated with a change in the battery voltage level, And selecting the audio signal. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the threshold is a second threshold,
The method further comprises attenuating the audio signal based on the battery voltage level and comparing the audio signal level with a threshold value,
Attenuating the audio signal comprises attenuating the audio signal only when the battery voltage level is less than a first threshold and when the audio signal level is greater than the second threshold. 3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein determining the battery voltage level is performed only when the audio signal level is above the second threshold. 3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein determining the audio signal level is performed only if the battery voltage level is less than the first threshold. 3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein the audio signal is not attenuated when the battery voltage level is above the first threshold or when the audio signal level is below the second threshold. The method according to claim 1,
Determining the target attenuation of the audio signal based on the battery voltage level, the mapping of the battery voltage levels to the target attenuations, and the maximum attenuation. The method according to claim 6,
And determining an attenuation increase based on the target attenuation and the current attenuation. 8. The method of claim 7,
Further comprising determining the increase in attenuation based on a step rate. The method according to claim 1,
Further comprising receiving the audio signal at the mobile device. 3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein attenuating the audio signal prevents brownout of the battery voltage or reset of the mobile device. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein determining the battery voltage level is performed only when a far-field speaker is being used. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the threshold is a limiting threshold,
The method further comprises attenuating the audio signal based on the battery voltage level and comparing the audio signal level with a threshold value,
The step of attenuating the audio signal comprises:
Calculating the limiting threshold based on the battery voltage level;
Determining an attenuation increase when the audio signal level is above the limiting threshold; And
And determining an attenuation reduction if the audio signal level does not exceed the limiting threshold. 13. The method of claim 12,
Wherein calculating the limiting threshold further comprises calculating the limiting threshold based on the battery voltage level, the mapping of battery voltage levels to target attenuations, and the threshold battery voltage level. An apparatus for attenuating audio signals in a mobile device,
Means for determining a battery voltage level of the battery of the mobile device;
Means for determining an audio signal level of an audio signal;
Means for comparing the audio signal level with a threshold;
Means for determining whether to damp the audio signal based on the battery voltage level and based on the comparison; And
Means for selecting, from a plurality of different attenuation rates, a decay rate to apply to the audio signal based on the determined battery voltage level, wherein the change in the audio signal level is determined by the attenuation rate And means for selecting the audio signal. 15. The method of claim 14,
Wherein the threshold is a second threshold,
The apparatus further comprises means for attenuating the audio signal based on the battery voltage level and comparing the audio signal level with a threshold value,
Wherein the means for attenuating the audio signal attenuates the audio signal only when the battery voltage level is below a first threshold and when the audio signal level is above the second threshold. 16. The method of claim 15,
Wherein the means for determining the battery voltage level determines the battery voltage level only if the audio signal level is above the second threshold. 16. The method of claim 15,
Wherein the means for determining the audio signal level determines the audio signal level only if the battery voltage level is less than the first threshold. 16. The method of claim 15,
Wherein the audio signal is not attenuated when the battery voltage level is above the first threshold or when the audio signal level is below the second threshold. 15. The method of claim 14,
Means for determining a target attenuation of the audio signal based on the battery voltage level, the mapping of battery voltage levels to target attenuations, and the maximum attenuation. 20. The method of claim 19,
And means for determining an attenuation increase based on the target attenuation and the current attenuation. 21. The method of claim 20,
Wherein the means for determining the increase in attenuation determines the increase in attenuation based on a step rate. 15. The method of claim 14,
Further comprising means for receiving the audio signal at the mobile device. 16. The method of claim 15,
Wherein the means for attenuating the audio signal prevents brownout of the battery voltage or reset of the mobile device. 15. The method of claim 14,
Wherein the means for determining the battery voltage level determines the battery voltage level only when a far-field speaker is being used. 15. The method of claim 14,
Wherein the threshold is a limiting threshold,
The apparatus further comprises means for attenuating the audio signal based on the battery voltage level and comparing the audio signal level with a threshold value,
Wherein the means for attenuating the audio signal comprises:
Means for calculating the limiting threshold based on the battery voltage level;
Means for determining an attenuation increase when the audio signal level is above the limiting threshold; And
And means for determining an attenuation reduction if the audio signal level does not exceed the limiting threshold. 26. The method of claim 25,
Wherein the means for calculating the limiting threshold calculates the limiting threshold based on the battery voltage level, the mapping of the battery voltage levels to the target attenuations, and the threshold battery voltage level. Let the computer
Instructions to determine a battery voltage level of the battery of the computer;
Instructions for determining an audio signal level of an audio signal;
Comparing the audio signal level to a threshold;
Instructions for determining whether to damp the audio signal based on the battery voltage level and based on the comparison; And
Instructions for selecting, from a plurality of different attenuation rates, a rate of attenuation to apply to the audio signal based on the determined battery voltage level, the change in the audio signal level being associated with a change in the battery voltage level, The computer program product comprising instructions for: 28. The method of claim 27,
Wherein the threshold is a second threshold,
The computer readable medium further comprises instructions for causing the computer to attenuate the audio signal based on the battery voltage level and comparing the audio signal level with a threshold value,
Attenuating the audio signal comprises attenuating the audio signal only when the battery voltage level is less than a first threshold and when the audio signal level is greater than the second threshold. 29. The method of claim 28,
Wherein determining the battery voltage level is performed only when the audio signal level is above the second threshold. 29. The method of claim 28,
Wherein determining the audio signal level is performed only if the battery voltage level is less than the first threshold. 29. The method of claim 28,
Wherein the audio signal is not attenuated when the battery voltage level is above the first threshold or when the audio signal level is below the second threshold. 28. The method of claim 27,
Further comprising instructions for causing the computer to determine a target attenuation of the audio signal based on the battery voltage level, the mapping of battery voltage levels to target attenuations, and the maximum attenuation. 33. The method of claim 32,
And cause the computer to determine an attenuation increase based on the target attenuation and the current attenuation. 34. The method of claim 33,
And cause the computer to determine the increase in attenuation based on a step rate. 28. The method of claim 27,
Further comprising instructions for causing the computer to receive the audio signal at the computer. 29. The method of claim 28,
Wherein attenuating the audio signal prevents brownout of the battery voltage or reset of the computer. 28. The method of claim 27,
Wherein determining the battery voltage level is performed only when a far-field speaker is being used. 28. The method of claim 27,
Wherein the threshold is a limiting threshold,
The computer readable medium further comprises instructions for causing the computer to attenuate the audio signal based on the battery voltage level and comparing the audio signal level with a threshold value,
The instructions for attenuating the audio signal include:
The computer
Instructions to calculate the limiting threshold based on the battery voltage level;
Instructions for determining an attenuation increase when the audio signal level is above the limiting threshold; And
And determine an attenuation reduction if the audio signal level does not exceed the limiting threshold. 39. The method of claim 38,
Wherein computing the limiting threshold further comprises calculating the limiting threshold based on the battery voltage level, the mapping of battery voltage levels to target attenuations, and the threshold battery voltage level. An apparatus for attenuating input audio signals,
A voltage level determiner for determining a battery voltage level of the battery of the apparatus; And
Determine an audio signal level of the audio signal;
Compare the audio signal level with a threshold;
Determine whether to damp the audio signal based on the battery voltage level and based on the comparison; And
Selecting a rate of attenuation to apply to the audio signal based on the determined battery voltage level from a plurality of different attenuation rates, and wherein the change in the audio signal level is associated with a change in the battery voltage level , An input audio signal attenuation device. 41. The method of claim 40,
Wherein the threshold is a second threshold,
The apparatus further comprises the battery voltage level and the attenuation determiner for attenuating the audio signal based on comparing the audio signal level with a threshold value,
Wherein attenuating the audio signal comprises attenuating the audio signal only when the battery voltage level is less than a first threshold and when the audio signal level is greater than the second threshold. 42. The method of claim 41,
Wherein determining the battery voltage level is performed only if the audio signal level is above the second threshold. 42. The method of claim 41,
Wherein determining the audio signal level is performed only if the battery voltage level is less than the first threshold. 42. The method of claim 41,
Wherein the audio signal is not attenuated when the battery voltage level is above the first threshold or when the audio signal level is below the second threshold. 41. The method of claim 40,
Wherein the attenuation determiner further determines a target attenuation of the audio signal based on the battery voltage level, the mapping of the battery voltage levels to the target attenuations, and the maximum attenuation. 46. The method of claim 45,
Wherein the attenuation determiner further determines an attenuation increase based on the target attenuation and the current attenuation. 47. The method of claim 46,
Wherein the attenuation determiner further determines the attenuation increase based on the step rate. 41. The method of claim 40,
The attenuation determiner also receives the audio signal at the device. 42. The method of claim 41,
Wherein attenuating the audio signal prevents brownout of the battery voltage or reset of the device. 41. The method of claim 40,
Wherein determining the battery voltage level is performed only when a far-field speaker is being used.

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